Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

— There’s a reason they’ve been churning out Star Wars episodes for forty years and it’s not just because the CGI is good and the weird creatures and droids are cute. Above all, they give you characters you care about and a good story. “The Rise of Skywalker” is about what I expected—fantasy, fun, and basic values making me feel like I'm settling into a comfortable easy chair. I’m not so heavily invested in everyone’s lineage that backstory-building side trips are important to me, but in Star Wars-land, such forays are still interesting and help push people back and forth between the light and dark sides of the “Force,” often thanks to memories more vivid than any I’ve ever had as well as “Force Ghosts” popping up when they're needed the most. Every two or three years, when a new one arrives in theaters, I find myself enveloped in the world George Lucas originally set into motion, and it’s “real” again for a few hours of immersion. This one is no more exceptional than the last one, but that’s not a bad thing. Oh, and it's kind of a nice nod to its beginnings that the first two credits go to Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill.

---

[2019. 141 min. Directed by J.J. Abrams. Starring Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Anthony Daniels.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-movie-review-2019